David Allen was a longstanding USyd professional staff member and trade unionist. His position in External Engagement was made redundant last year, so he exercised his right to seek redeployment to a suitable position elsewhere at the University.

However, USyd determined him unsuitable for 12 different jobs, including denying his request to be redeployed into a vacant role he had previously occupied with a strong record of performance. As a result, David has lost his job, and the university is losing a valuable staff member.

It also raises questions about the integrity of the redeployment program that is there as a safety net for all of us should our positions become redundant.

We the undersigned call upon the Chief Human Resources Officer, Samantha Liston, to thoroughly review the integrity and authenticity of the re-deployment process, with particular attention to the recent case of Mr. David Allen.

Mr. Allen’s experience of the re-deployment process has been that the University’s commitment to re-deploying staff affected by change management processes is nominal and perfunctory despite the University’s commitment to priority assessment and reasonable training and re-training for staff whose roles have been negatively impacted by change.

In particular we are concerned by the fact that Mr. Allen was not found suitable for re-deployment into a Billings & Collections Officer role, despite having previously held that precise role, in precisely that work unit.

The integrity and authenticity of the re-deployment process is of interest to all staff. We call upon Samantha Liston to conduct a review and to ensure that Mr. Allen is found suitable employment in accordance with his rights under the University of Sydney Enterprise Agreement (2023 – 2026).